Former Orlando Pirates striker Katlego Mashego has explained how he joined Golden Arrows in 2012 after winning a treble with the Buccaneers.
‘Mahoota’ became a fan favourite during his four-year stay with Pirates and was notorious for scoring against rivals Kaizer Chiefs. During his stay with the Soweto giants, the retired Bafana Bafana striker scored 17 goals in 61 matches for the Sea Robbers.
In his third season, Mashego struggled for game time with then-coach Ruud Krol preferring to play Thulasizwe Mbuyane and Bongani Ndulula upfront.
Mahoota was a fan favourite at Pirates
On the State of Football podcast, Mahoota explained how he was surprised by Orlando Pirates chairman Irvin Khoza before joining the Arrows. The former Mamelodi Sundowns forward revealed that he and Siyabonga Sangweni swapped not only teams, but jersey numbers as well.
“They (Pirates) said ‘come to the office’ and so, I went to the office and then I found the chairman there. The chairman said, ‘ok, let’s drive somewhere.’ I thought maybe the chairman wanted to encourage me for next season,” Mashego said.
“We drove to the airport and went to that InterContinental O.R.Tambo Airport hotel. Along the way, we were just talking and when we got there, he was like, ‘there are people that you need to meet inside’. When we got into the lounge, I bumped into Siyabonga Sangweni as well as Mike Makaab. The chairman said, ‘Siya is coming this side, wena, you need to go on the other side and Siya wants your jersey number. ‘
Mashego left Pirates after winning first treble
Mahoota was loaned to Arrows during the 2011/12 season. He later joined Moroka Swallows on a permanent deal in 2012.
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